


Haunting in the Flesh

by starspawnedwarlock



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Gen, Pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28206510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspawnedwarlock/pseuds/starspawnedwarlock
Summary: Dimitri struggles with his battle scars, more than any of his subjects could know.
Kudos: 2





	Haunting in the Flesh

Dimitri groaned as he pulled himself up from the chair, hand gripped tight on the shaft of his spear. He winced as his muscles ached and stung. He clenched his jaw, his nails digging hard into his palm. He took a step forward, holding a sizable portion of his weight up on the spear. He glanced upwards as he planted his foot down, moving the base of his weapon forward to support his next step, ignoring the pains in his arm and torso as he did.

He caught sight of one of his compatriots across from him, leaning back in a chair. Felix raised an eyebrow and sneered.

“What is it?” Dimitri spat, one eye staring out from the mess of hair obscuring his face due to his hunch.

“Perhaps if you didn’t throw yourself into the haze of combat like a wild animal you wouldn’t be so damn pitiful trying to cross a room.”

A growl came from the throat of the prince. “Watch yourself, you, else I’ll have you stoned.”

“Try it, if you can reach me, boar.”

Dimitri took several steps forward suddenly, his spear lifting off the ground, his eyes trained on the warrior in front of him. His breaths were raspy and tore out of his throat.

“Why you little-“

He gasped, stumbling slightly, and putting out his spear to stop himself from sinking any lower.

“Scamper off into the undergrowth, before you hurt yourself.” Felix muttered, walking past him.

Dimitri had to suppress the urge to snatch his hand out to grab the man, and instead clenched his fist. Taking another long and ragged breath, he pulled himself up a little higher on his spear, before taking another step forward, his breath catching each time a muscle sang out with a piercing pain.

He was only halfway to his quarters before he was in complete agony, his breaths hard to pull into his lungs, as he wavered where he stood, relying almost completely on his spear to keep himself propped up. His eye was wide, his eyebrows furrowed, and his lip twitched up to bare his teeth several times each second.

He took another step, his foot twitched twice before it finally made purchase on the ground, and a sting ran up his leg.

He finally lost it at this, snarling and chucking his spear at the wall, crying out at the pain that wracked his body as he did. The weapon bounced off the stone walls, ringing out with a loud clang, before settling on the floor with a similar noise. Dimitri roared at the explosion of pain, lurching forward to slam his fist into the pillar in front of him. Pain flared ever stronger, as he struck the stone again, and again, his body screaming out in pain as he ran his throat raw with roars of fury.

He kept slamming his fists against the stone, the skin of his knuckles being scraped off with each dull thud, blood covering his clothes and the now fracturing stone. He let loose like an animal, though it was doubtful that an animal could feel such raw relentless rage. It was only when his hands were shaking, completely red and numb beyond pain that he stopped.

His heart was pounding in his ears as he finally stepped away, the pain in his body still present, but dulled under his fury and pumping adrenaline fuelled heart. He grunted as he stooped down to retrieve his spear, then straightened up with a snarl.

With deep, animalistic breaths, he marched forward, looking as though he intended to thrust his spear through each of the statues on his path, as though he were still on the battlefield of the week previous.

After a few minutes of his hard footsteps on the hallways’ stone floor, he finally arrived at his room. He slammed the door shut behind him, tossing his spear to the ground. His legs felt week as he stumbled across the room, reaching up, he ripped off his eyepatch with arms quickly being sapped of their strength. He tossed it to the table, before he collapsed on the bed.

He sat there for a moment, taking deep breaths, until the air caught in his throat as the pain finally caught up to him, the result of his body forcing itself through the pain. He coughed out a gasp as he compelled his lungs to breath despite it all. He crawled backwards to lie on his back on the bed, his eye trained on the bare ceiling above while he struggled to breath through the seemingly endless pain.

His eyes watered up, both of pain and from the wretched feeling gripping on his hard with a cold iron gauntlet, threatening to crush and tear it.

“Forgive… me…” He whispered out between raspy breaths. “I’ll… kill her… I’ll kill… her… I’ll… I’ll do it… I’ll… I-” He cried out as a fresh pain stung him. “I’m not… weak… I’m not… I’m sorry… I’ll kill her… I’ll… I’m…”

The prince gasped out his apologies and oaths to the ghosts of the night for over an hour, before exhausting finally overpowered both the pain and his restless, haunted mind, finally quietening him for the night, with the final oath on his lips the same as all nights previous, when the spectres roused themselves in his mind to drag him to his failures.

“I’ll… kill… Edel… gard”

**Author's Note:**

> I think more characters should be shown struggling with their injuries they obtain in battles. I feel like a story that ignores the results and consequences of battles, especially the permanent ones, kinda miss out on the true suffering and pain that war inflicts, especially when it comes to stories supposedly painting the horrors of war. Fire Emblem 3h does it good with the mental side of Dimitri, I feel, but someone who throws themselves into battle so readily should really like,,, barely be able to stand, y'know? It's an important part, often ignored, at least in the media I consume lmao.   
> Also I was feeling Dimitri angst tonight (also some dimileth but I only have so much time) so I wrote this in like an hour soooooo.......  
> Anyway gn I have to shovel gravel early in the morning, have a merry holiday season :)


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